The rest of the day passed without further incident (not like one could really match the yelling match at lunch) with Ichigo staring ahead at the board and promptly ignoring the other male, choosing to only speak to Yasutora. The action successfully further solidifying Kiyoko's original observation that this could quite possibly be the end of their friendship.

So the blonde further buried himself in his work, hiding red-rimmed eyes whilst talking to Mikayla, actively choosing to ignore the pitying looks she kept on offering him. This wasn't anybody's business other than his or Ichigo's, so he didn't need anyone's pity.

Unlike Ichigo, Yasutora was still speaking to Kiyoko albeit hidden and with even shorter sentences than usual. It was clear that he agreed with some of the things that Ichigo had said, not that Kiyoko could blame him, after all it was partly true. But how was he meant to tell them about Hollows and the whole Soul Society shit without being laughed at. Hell, if he tried telling Ichigo that now he might just end up in hospital due to Ichigo's anger at being told such a bullshit excuse, even if it was true.

So with those sentiments, the blonde found himself two hours later standing in Yasutora's kitchen.

"Hey, 'Tora, do you want the red ones or the blue ones?" asked Kiyoko, holding two packets of sweets as he stared down at the colourful packets.

Currently, the blonde was in Yasutora Sado's (or more formally known as Chad by Ichigo and amongst their friends) home as due to their teaching assigning the class a group project, the pair found themselves working together. This was no bother for the duo as they were rather close but due to the true extent and detail the work needed to be completed in, they decided to start working on the project that night. Such an action had led to the blonde's current dilemma, whether or not Yasutora would want the red sweets, which were strawberry flavoured, or the blue sweets, which were a blue raspberry flavour and were personally Kiyoko's favourite.

"Blue," came the single monotone reply from behind, causing the teenager to jump in shock as he looked up wide-eyed at the brown haired male.

"Jesus, we need to get you a bell, 'Tora," joked the blonde, as he placed the red packet back inside the cupboard before tearing the blue packet open and pouring out a portion into a bowl.

A momentary silence filled the small kitchen as the pair casually moved out into the living room, with the shorter male gently sitting down on the sofa. As Yasutora moved to turn the television on, Kiyoko allowed himself to bury further in his mind, almost recollecting on the previous week's events.

It had been maybe six weeks since the pair had actually sat down alone and talked to one another alone without their other friends. This was probably the longest the pair had gone without talking to one another privately, which was rather uncommon considering the pair had been friends since their middle school years. Was 'Tora feeling the same way that Ichigo was? Is that why he practically dragged him over to his house? Had he really become that blind?

"What's on your mind, Kiko?" asked Yasutora softly, his hidden gaze trained on the other male, watching as the blonde let a loud sigh escape his lips.

"Is Ichigo right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Am I really pushing you all away?" asked Kiyoko, his eyes glazing over with tears as he thought of the last words the orange haired male had said to him.

"You're pushing us away, Kiyoko and for what? A girl who you met only two weeks ago. She doesn't even know you!"

Turning his attention away from the TV, Yasutora turned to look at the blonde, his expression void as he took in the shaky appearance of Kiyoko. For the first time in a long time, the brown haired male was able to see a glimpse of the boy he first met all those years ago. Instead of the overly confident and somewhat cocky attitude the blonde had been portraying for the past few weeks he was able to view the insecure, emotional and shy boy that he knew.

In all honesty, Yasutora could understand where Ichigo was coming from. After Madarame's sudden appearance in the school, Kiyoko had changed. He'd become more confident, cocky and just began to distance himself from others. The changes probably wouldn't have mattered that much, in fact they more than likely would've been embraced. For years, the blonde male had been shy and almost always hiding within himself so with this sudden confidence boost both Ichigo and Yasutora felt that maybe he had finally found his place or comfort within himself. However, these thoughts were suddenly discarded when Kiyoko began to distance himself, spending almost everyday with Madarame.

Although, on the flip side, he could also understand Kiyoko. For the first time, the blonde found himself with a girl (that he appeared to really like, whether as a friend or otherwise) who listened and encouraged him to further himself like no one else had. She offered him a brand new perspective and seemed to be showing him new things. It allowed for Kiyoko to fully understand himself and also allow for his feelings to grow and explore. In truth, this was probably the most comfortable he had seen Kiyoko in his own skin since middle school but he couldn't help but wonder if (in this respect anyway) if they had failed him in that regard.

After all, when they hit high school Ichigo was the first to go for the whole aloof 'bad boy' persona whilst he himself became even quieter, no longer fighting or bullying others as he had done years prior and no longer subject to teasing from others, Yasutora found himself changing in a different sense. But Kiyoko never changed, in contrast, he seemed to be the exact same boy from middle school, always stuck in his own imagination as he dreamed of a better life.

"You haven't been here," answered Yasutora after a long spell of silence and from here he could practically hear the blonde's heart shatter.

"I'm sorry," muttered Kiyoko wetly, trying his hardest not to allow any tears to spill as he kept his head down, gaze trained on the coffee table in front of him.

"But I don't blame you,"

Turning his head sharply, the sixteen year old looked across at the taller male with golden eyes wide and brimmed with tears.

"We've all changed, one way or another and you by no means are the first. Ichigo just misses you. It's safe to say that after Madarame joined, you began to spend more time with her, to the point that it almost feels like we never get to see you," explained Yasutora, handing the other male a tissue as a few tears slipped down his cheeks.

"No… no, you or Ichigo could've told me and guess what? I would've listened because I've always listened, especially to you 'Tora but like you said we've all been pulling apart," said the blonde, his head shaking angrily as he roughly cleared away tears.

"You would've listened to me?"

"Yes. Yes, I would've listened to you in a heartbeat because at no point did you ever question Mikayla's motives for talking to me. At no point did you mock me even after I made attempts to reach out, like I did with Ichigo. If you just spoke to me separately and didn't try to make me feel like a child,"

Frustrated, the blonde stood up from the sofa turning on his heel to glare down at the seated man as Yasutora stared lazily up at the clearly upset blonde.

"Since the start of school all Ichigo has been focused on his 'image' or that bullshit reputation whilst you became more unreachable than ever-"
"I understand, Kiyoko-"

"No, Yasutora, no you don't," he sighed, sitting back down beside the other male as he held his head in his hands.

"For the first time I feel like I belong somewhere. Do you know that for the first three months at school I was bullied? Bullied for my hair, for my eyes, my skin, Yasutora, they bullied me because of my skin! Because I'm black! You know what made them stop? Keigo. He stupidly threw a metal tray at one of their heads and told them to fuck off… never seen him look that angry before. He then shook me back and forth like a ragdoll, asking me why I hadn't told anyone sooner but I was crying too much to really care at that point. Not just because I was bleeding out from my head, because yeah that hurt but that wasn't the main reason why I was upset. No, I was upset because the person who noticed wasn't Ichigo, it wasn't you, it was Keigo Asano; a man who wasn't my closest friend but held me so tightly I would've thought we were family,"

"Then I meet none other than Mikayla, a woman…" the blonde seemed to trail off for a moment, lost in thought as he stared across at the patterned wallpaper.

"A woman who didn't care and looked at you like you were anybody else," finished Yasutora, true understanding now flooding his mind as he observed the other male, eyes soft as he considered the weight of what his friend had just told him.

"She never judged me and yeah I understand Ichigo and I'm beginning to understand and fully consider the fact that I really wasn't there for any of you either. I just wish he would get my side of the story,"

"Is that also why you call her Mikayla now?" Yasutora asked, genuinely curious as he watched Kiyoko slowly blink in confusion.

"I don't understand,"
"You always used to call her Madarame. Now you call her Mikayla and she calls you Kiyoko, I just want to know one thing… is all you feel for her a friendship?"

That question alone left an even longer section of silence as the blonde slowly seemed to be coming to a realisation himself. Just how long had he been calling Madarame by her given name? Surely they hadn't gotten that close but it was clear from Yasutora that the pair had and that fact alone shocked the poor blonde. However, after the incident with the Hollow in the graveyard as well as their sudden adventure to the supermarket, it would appear that the pair had gotten closer. Just how did he miss it?

Today had been filled with one too many confessions and realisations so the last thing it needed were any secrets being thrown into the mix. Maybe it was time to tell the truth and actually consider the fact that his feelings had developed whether towards the black haired female.

"No,"

.

.

.

Likewise, in the Kurosaki residence, Ichigo appeared to be reaching his own dilemma as he found himself endlessly pacing the small space of his bedroom with his mind reeling back onto his argument with Kiyoko at lunch.

He hadn't meant to say it like that nor impose such a harsh accusation towards Kiyoko or Madarame and even though he didn't care for the woman that didn't mean that she deserved to be spoken about like that.

"Ichigo, dinner's been on the table for twenty minutes, what are you doing?" asked Isshin, his brows furrowed in confusion as he stared at his son's lost expression.

"Kiyoko hates me,"

Whilst Isshin wouldn't normally take comments like this to heart, after all the pair were growing boys and he had heard plenty of times that the pair had a falling out, the resolute tone of Ichigo's voice did bring an edge of concern.

"Excuse me?"

"Kiyoko Urahara hates me," stated Ichigo again, his voice broken and lost as he gazed at the crack in the floor.

The crack was not always there, at least Ichigo thinks that's the case.

He hopes that's the case.

"What makes you think that?" asked Isshin, shock visible on his face as he sat on the bed next to Ichigo.

"We got into a fight today, over a girl,"

Now that was not something that Isshin was expecting.
"No, not like that. Trust me I don't give a single care in the world about her but Kiyoko-,"

"Let me guess, he does care," said Isshin, not a question but a statement as he watched the tension slowly begin to release from Ichigo's shoulders.

"Yeah and I just didn't want it to be like the last time that this happened, I don't want him to get hurt again. So I-"

"Overstepped," finished Isshin, eyes glistening with a mixture of amusement and knowing.

"What?" gasped Ichigo, his eyes wide as he turned to face his Dad, the older male now standing in front of his son as he looked down at Ichigo with hardened eyes.

"You overstepped. Just because you want to protect Kiyoko, Ichigo, doesn't mean that you can just decide that you don't want him to date anyone. That's up to Kiyoko and therefore up to him to make his mistakes, all you need to do as a good friend is be there to comfort him when it's over," explained Isshin, gaze softening as he watched Ichigo slowly come to terms with the words that had just been said.

Isshin knew that the words were harsh, however they were also necessary in order for Ichigo to see the bigger picture that simply didn't just surround Kiyoko and this new female.

"Now come downstairs, your dinner is probably cold by now,"